Frequently asked questions¶

Files and privacy¶

Does ArchiveMind upload my files?¶

No. Indexing reads your files locally and stores what was learned in your local catalogue. Nothing is uploaded, and the app contains no telemetry, analytics, or auto-update. See Privacy.

Does ArchiveMind move, rename, or modify my files?¶

No. Indexing only reads your files. ArchiveMind is a catalogue, not a file manager — it never moves, renames, or edits the originals.

Is ArchiveMind a backup system?¶

No. The catalogue stores information about your files — names, metadata, extracted text, thumbnails — not the files themselves. If a drive fails, ArchiveMind can tell you what was on it, but it cannot restore the files. Keep real backups separately.

What data does ArchiveMind store?¶

Derived data about your files: paths, filenames, sizes, dates, content hashes, metadata, extracted text (up to an extraction limit), thumbnails and media previews, visual-search index data where enabled, repository availability states, and operational logs. Full list: Privacy.

Does ArchiveMind store copies of original files?¶

No — it stores derived data (see above), not the files. Two nuances worth knowing: extracted text can include substantial readable text from inside documents, and thumbnails are small images derived from your photos. Both are stored locally in your catalogue and caches, and both should be treated as personal data.

Who can read my catalogue?¶

Anyone who can use your computer account — and no one else. The catalogue is an ordinary database file on your own disk. ArchiveMind keeps it readable by your user account only, other accounts on the same machine cannot reach it, and full-disk encryption (FileVault on macOS, BitLocker on Windows) protects it if the computer is lost or stolen.

What ArchiveMind does not do is encrypt the file itself. If someone has your logged-in session, or you give them a copy of the file, they can read everything in it — file names, paths, extracted text, and face data if you enabled it. That is the same trust model as your photo library, mail store, or browser profile. Treat the catalogue with the same care as the files it describes: it is a concentrated digest of them, and it stays readable even when the original drives are unplugged.

What languages does ArchiveMind support?¶

Your files can be in any language. Filenames, folder names, and the text extracted from documents are catalogued and searched as Unicode, and accents are folded so a search for recu also finds reçu. Languages written in the Latin alphabet (French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, and so on) search well. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean text is catalogued but searches poorly, because the search index cannot yet split those scripts into words — an honest limitation we would address if there is demand.

Two things are English-first today. Visual search ("beach sunset") understands English descriptions best; other languages return weaker matches. And the interface itself is in English — every button, label, and status message. There is no translated interface yet; languages will be added based on where ArchiveMind actually finds users.

Buying from outside the United States needs nothing special: the checkout, currency, and tax handling are localised by the payment provider, and the license file works identically everywhere.

What are the system requirements?¶

Mac: macOS 12 (Monterey) or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. Each has its own download.
Windows: 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, with the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime. Nearly every Windows 10/11 PC already has it, and the installer offers it when it is missing.
Disk space: the download is about 2.2 to 2.3 GB on macOS and about 720 to 790 MB on Windows, plus room for your catalogue (how much is that?).
Memory: 8 GB is enough for everything, including People (face recognition): ArchiveMind 1.1.6 used at most about 3.5 GB while scanning photos and finding faces.
No account and no internet connection after the download.

Why is the download so large?¶

Because the AI ships inside the app. The download (about 2.2 GB on macOS, about 720 to 790 MB on Windows, whose runtime packs smaller) carries the complete visual-search model and the face-recognition model, plus the runtime that executes them — the app itself is a tiny fraction of it. Most software with these features keeps its download small by running the AI in the cloud, which means your photos do the traveling instead. ArchiveMind makes the opposite trade: the models live inside the app, so visual search and People work on a plane, an unplugged network cable changes nothing, and your files never leave your computer. The size is what the privacy promise weighs.

Does ArchiveMind work without internet access?¶

Yes — indexing, search, browsing, thumbnails, duplicates, and visual search (the packaged app bundles the image-understanding model) all work offline. One documented exception in early beta installers, long superseded: the first launch of the macOS .command-based beta needed the internet once to install its dependencies. Installing optional preview tools such as ffmpeg is a download you choose to make, separate from ArchiveMind itself.

Drives and availability¶

Can ArchiveMind search a disconnected external drive?¶

Yes — this is one of its core features. Once a drive has been catalogued, its contents stay searchable after you unplug it. You just cannot open the original files until the drive is reconnected. See Disconnected drives.

Why does ArchiveMind say "Permission denied" for my external drive?¶

On a Mac, this happens when the drive is (or once was) a Time Machine backup disk — its top level contains a Backups.backupdb folder. macOS protects such a drive as a whole under Full Disk Access, a permission it never asks for on its own. That is also why ArchiveMind shows nothing to turn on under Files and Folders: the drive is not treated as an ordinary removable volume.

To let ArchiveMind read the drive:

Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access.
Click the plus button, choose ArchiveMind in Applications, and turn it on.
Quit ArchiveMind and open it again — the running app keeps the old answer until it restarts.

Then pick the folder you want catalogued as the scan root, rather than the whole drive, unless you also want the backup folder indexed. Any other external drive prompts the normal way the first time ArchiveMind reads it. Windows has no equivalent restriction.

Why can I see a file but not open it?¶

Usually because the drive it lives on is disconnected: search runs against the catalogue, but opening needs the original file. Reconnect the drive. Other causes (the file was moved, renamed, or deleted since indexing) are covered in A file appears in search but will not open.

What does "indexed but unavailable" mean?¶

The file is in the catalogue (indexed), but its original cannot currently be reached (unavailable) — typically because its drive is offline. The catalogued information remains visible; opening the file requires the source to reconnect.

What happens if a file was moved or renamed?¶

The catalogue records the file as it was when last scanned. If it has been moved or renamed since, the catalogue entry points at the old location until you rescan the repository, so opening it may fail. Rescanning updates the catalogue. Details: A file moved or was renamed.

Indexing¶

How long does indexing take?¶

It depends on the number of files and the speed of the drive — minutes for a few thousand photos, potentially hours for multi-terabyte archives on slow drives. You can search while indexing runs. See Indexing.

Can indexing be stopped and resumed?¶

A running scan can be stopped with the Stop Scan button, and stopping is safe — files are only read, and what is already catalogued stays searchable. There is no exact resume-from-checkpoint, but rescans are incremental by default: a new scan recognises unchanged files by size and modification time and skips them, so it spends its time only on what is new or changed. See Indexing.

Why is ArchiveMind still running after indexing finishes?¶

Because the app and the scan are separate things: when a scan finishes, the interface stays available so you can search. ArchiveMind keeps running until you quit it via Quit ArchiveMind. See Reopening ArchiveMind.

Why is the ArchiveMind process using 0% CPU?¶

Usually because it is idle — the scan finished, or it is waiting on a slow drive — not because it is stuck. An open-but-idle ArchiveMind at 0% CPU is normal. See Running but 0% CPU.

Formats and previews¶

What file types are supported?¶

All files are catalogued, hashed, and included in duplicate detection regardless of type. Beyond that, support is by level: photos, documents, audio, video, and archives each get the metadata, text extraction, and preview treatment their format allows. Previews: photos show a thumbnail, PDFs show their first page, videos a frame, audio a waveform, and SVGs a render. Not every format supports every level, and ArchiveMind does not claim otherwise — where something is not supported, it is labelled honestly rather than faked.

Can every audio or video file be played?¶

No. Playback uses the browser engine that displays ArchiveMind, so it is limited to the formats that engine can decode. A file can be perfectly indexed and still not be playable in the interface — ArchiveMind will say so, and you can open the file in your usual media player instead. See Audio and video.

Does ArchiveMind read scanned PDFs?¶

Text that is already in a PDF (anything you can select and copy) is always indexed and searchable. A scanned PDF is a picture of a page with no text behind it; ArchiveMind detects those and labels them as image-only, shows their first page, but cannot search their words on its own.

Since 1.1.6 it can read them with OCR if Tesseract is installed — a free, open-source program that stays on your computer, like ffmpeg. On a Mac: brew install tesseract. On Windows: the Tesseract installer (the UB Mannheim build); its default folder is found without adding it to PATH. Then reopen ArchiveMind and tick Enable OCR in the scan area before a scan. For documents that are already in your catalogue, tick Force re-extract as well, once. OCR is slow — about half a second per page — so it is off by default. The checkbox says whether Tesseract was found; when it was not, it stays disabled and says so.

Earlier versions (1.0.0 to 1.1.5) showed the OCR option but were missing the component that runs it, so it did nothing; 1.1.6 fixes that.

Why are some thumbnails missing?¶

Common reasons: the format needs an optional tool that is not installed (ffmpeg for waveforms and video frames, rsvg-convert/librsvg for SVG), the format does not support thumbnails, the file's drive is offline, or enrichment has not reached that file yet. ArchiveMind shows an honest placeholder rather than a fake preview. See Thumbnails are missing.

Why are some thumbnails rotated incorrectly?¶

Some cameras store photos unrotated plus an orientation note in the photo's metadata, and software must apply that note when rendering. Current ArchiveMind versions apply the orientation note (including mirrored variants) when generating previews. Thumbnails generated by older versions could come out sideways; ArchiveMind includes a targeted repair that regenerates exactly those previews — originals are never modified. If a thumbnail is rotated while other apps show the photo upright, mention it when reporting a problem.

Search¶

Why are search results sometimes unexpected?¶

Search matches the words in names, paths, metadata, and extracted text — ranked by relevance — so results reflect where your words actually occur, which sometimes surprises. During an active scan, not-yet-extracted files match only by name. See Unexpected search results.

What is visual search?¶

Finding photos by describing what is in them ("beach sunset") instead of by filename. It uses an image-understanding model that ships inside the app and runs offline. See Visual search.

What happens if a visual-search model cannot load?¶

ArchiveMind says so plainly, and everything else — regular search, browsing, thumbnails, duplicates — keeps working. See Visual search could not start.

Price and licence¶

Is ArchiveMind free?¶

Free to use, with one limit. ArchiveMind is a free download from archivemind.app, and every feature works free up to 10,000 catalogued files in a catalogue — search, visual search, People, duplicates, previews, all of it. A one-time licence removes the limit.

The limit only ever applies to indexing new files once a catalogue has reached 10,000: everything already catalogued keeps working, forever, and nothing is locked, degraded, or lost. The only reminder is a small meter in the License section of the app ("N of 10,000 free files used") — no pop-ups, no nagging.

What does a licence cost?¶

US $49, one-time — no subscription, and a 30-day refund. Every 1.x update is free, and so is the move to the next major version. Details and checkout are on the pricing page. Any valid licence lifts the 10,000-file limit; the licence is a file you import into the app, verified offline.

I tested the beta — does my licence still work?¶

Yes. Every beta tester's existing .amlicense file keeps working in 1.0.0 — there is nothing to re-import. Install 1.0.0 over the beta in the same place and your catalogue and licence are picked up as they are; see the "Coming from a beta build?" note on your platform page. The betas are superseded by 1.0.0.

Platforms¶

Is there a Windows version?¶

Yes — ArchiveMind 1.1.6 for 64-bit Windows, in your choice of two forms. The portable zip unpacks to a folder: unzip it anywhere and run ArchiveMind.exe, with nothing installed. The per-user installer (…-setup.exe) needs no administrator rights and adds a Start-menu shortcut and a normal entry in Settings → Apps. Either way, uninstalling never removes your catalogue or settings.

Both are code-signed (publisher Dominik Krzanowski). SmartScreen may still show its first-run warning while the signature's reputation is new, in which case one click clears it (More info → Run anyway). See Windows.

Is there an Intel Mac version?¶

Yes — ArchiveMind 1.1.6 ships as ArchiveMind.app for Intel Macs, level with the Apple-silicon build and built from the same source. The Intel build is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens with a plain double-click. See macOS (Intel).

Intel Macs are supported through 1.0 and for as long as Apple ships security updates for macOS Tahoe (macOS 26), which Apple has said is the last macOS release for Intel Macs.

Is there an Apple-silicon version?¶

Yes — ArchiveMind 1.1.6 is built natively for Apple silicon, shipped as ArchiveMind-1.1.6-release-macos-arm64.zip containing ArchiveMind.app. It needs no Rosetta 2, unlike running the Intel build on an Apple-silicon Mac. It is the same application as the Intel build, at the same 1.1.6 release and likewise notarized — the only difference is the processor each is compiled for. See macOS (Apple silicon).

The catalogue¶

How much disk space does the catalogue use?¶

It grows with the number of files and how much can be extracted from them — extracted text (up to 100,000 characters per file), the search index, and thumbnails are the main contributors. As a real-world reference point: one catalogue of about 500,000 files measured roughly 1.5 GB of database (about 3 KB per file) plus 760 MB of thumbnails (about 113,000 previews at ~7 KB each) — around 2.3 GB in total. Text-heavy and photo-heavy collections sit at the higher end, and visual-search data adds more where enabled. The database lives where you chose during setup, with thumbnails in a thumbs folder beside it — you can check both sizes there at any time.

Can the catalogue be moved to another computer?¶

Yes, with one caveat about previews. The catalogue is a single database file, and it opens fine from a new folder or a new computer — verified by moving a real half-million-file catalogue and searching it from the new location. What carries over and what does not:

Carries over: everything in the database — search, extracted text, metadata, duplicate relationships, and repository records. Drives that are not attached to the new computer simply show as offline, exactly like any disconnected drive, and come back when you attach them.
Does not carry over: thumbnails and previews. They are stored in a thumbs folder beside the database at its original location and are tied to it, so after a move they show as missing at first. They are regenerated from the original files — reconnect the source drives and use the enrichment panel's Generate missing thumbnails operation (or simply rescan).

Getting help¶

How do I report a problem?¶

See Reporting a problem — it lists what to include, and explains the built-in privacy-conscious diagnostics export.